
Public data from the Art Institute of Chicago. Learn more
Adoration of the Magi
Provenance
Probably a member of the Khuen von Belasy family [based on the coats of arms formerly on the picture]. Von Ferstel collection, Vienna, until 1920 [according to Friedländer 1923, p. 606]. Camillo Castiglioni, Vienna, from 1920; sold, Frederick Muller, Amsterdam, November 17–20, 1925, no. 47. Dr. Tietje, Amsterdam, by 1929 [lent by him to 1929 exhibition]. Paul Cassirer and Co., Amsterdam; sold to the Art Institute, 1935.
Exhibition history
Düsseldorf, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Alte Malerei aus Privatbesitz, 1929, cat. 18. Art Institute of Chicago, The Christmas Story in Art, 1938–39, no cat. Art Institute of Chicago, Glad Tidings of Great Joy, 1994–95, no cat. Art Institute of Chicago, On the Road to Italy: Early Paintings by Dutch Renaissance Master Jan van Scorel, 1998, no cat.
Publications
Max J. Friedländer, review of Kurt Steinbart, Die Tafelgemälde des Jakob Cornelisz van Amsterdam, in Kunstchronik und Kunstmarkt 31/32 (1923), pp. 605–06. H. W. Hupp, “Jubiläumsausstellung des Kunstvereins für die Rheinlande und Westfalen: Alte Malerei aus Privatbesitz,” Pantheon 4 (1929), p. 340. Kurt Steinbart, “Nachlese im Werke des Jacob Cornelisz,” Marburger Jahrbuch für Kunstwissenschaft 5 (1929), pp. 234–36, 257, fig. 48. Walter Cohen, “Die Madonna mit musizierenden Engeln von Jakob Cornelisz und einige andere Gemälde des Meisters,” Pantheon 5 (1930), pp. 106, 108 (ill.). Max J. Friedländer, Die altniederländische Malerei, vol. 12, Berlin and Leiden, 1935, pp. 110, 195, no. 256, pl. 52; rev. English ed., Early Netherlandish Painting, vol. 12, Brussels and Leiden, 1975, pp. 59, 116, no. 256, pl. 143. G. J. Hoogewerff, De Noord-Nederlandsche Schilderkunst, vol. 3, The Hague, 1939, pp. 119–20. The Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in The Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Chicago, 1961), p. 85. Molly A. Faries, “Jan van Scorel, His Style and Its Historical Context,” Ph.D. diss., Bryn Mawr College, 1972, pp. 47–48 n. 26. Maryan Wynn Ainsworth and Molly Faries, “Northern Renaissance Paintings: The Discovery of Invention,” Bulletin of the Saint Louis Art Museum 18, 1 (1986), p. 17, fig. 24 (detail). Peter C. Sutton, A Guide to Dutch Art in America, Washington, D.C., and Grand Rapids, Mich., 1986, p. 49. Jane L. Carroll, “The Paintings of Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen (1472–1533),” Ph.D. diss., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1987 (Ann Arbor, Mich., University Microfilms, 1988), pp. 398–400, cat. A1, fig. 97. Art Institute of Chicago, Glad Tidings of Great Joy, Chicago, 1993, pp. 30–31, 39 (ill.). Molly Faries and Martha Wolff, “Landscape in the Early Paintings of Jan van Scorel,” Burl. Mag. 138 (1996), pp. 728–731, 733, fig. 13. Molly Faries, “Another New Early Jan van Scorel,” in Polyptiek: Een veelluik van Groninger bijdragen aan de kunstgeschiedenis, ed. Henk Th. van Veen et al., Zwolle, 2002, pp. 42, 46–47, 221–22. Molly Faries, “Technical Studies in Early Netherlandish Painting: A Critical Overview of Recent Developments,” in Recent Developments in the Technical Examination of Early Netherlandish Painting: Methodology, Limitations, Perspectives, ed. Molly Faries and Ron Spronk, Cambridge, Mass., and Turnhout, 2003, p. 16.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Jan van Scorel (Netherlandish, 1495-1562)
- Date
- c. 1519
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Dimensions
- 44.4 × 55.2 cm (17 1/2 × 21 3/4 in.); Framed: 62.6 × 75 × 5.8 cm (24 5/8 × 29 1/2 × 2 1/4 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- oil paintings (visual works)
- Style
- 16th Century
- Place
- Netherlands
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture of Europe
- Credit line
- Wilson L. Mead Fund
- Accession no.
- 1935.381
More by Jan van Scorel in museum collections


The Death of Saint Hilary (recto); Sketch of an Arm (verso)
Jan van Scorelearly–mid 16th century · Drawing

Two Wings of an Altarpiece depicting Saints John the Baptist and Catherine in Niches Surmounted by Angels
Jan van Scorelmid-16th century · Drawing
Data retrieved from the Art Institute of Chicago on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00000811
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